This invention relates to refrigerated display cases, and more particularly to systems for eliminating moisture from glass display windows on refrigerated display cases.
Display cases for food items, such as those in delis and supermarkets, require refrigeration to keep the food fresh. Because cool air is required in the closed refrigerated display cases, moisture tends to condense and collect on the glass display window of the refrigerated case. That is, the windows tend to "sweat." In the past, moisture condensation has been prevented by circulating refrigerated air within the case where the moisture is picked up by the air and condensed on a refrigeration coil used to cool the air. For the exterior surface of the display window, heat was commonly used to remove or prevent condensation. However, this warmed the display window and required use of extra energy.
Another more recent method of preventing/removing condensation from the display window is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,863, which has the same Assignee as the present application. That invention used air propelling fans for propelling cooled air upwardly into the inside of the display case, and then through an opening in the top and out over the exterior of the front display window, as well as the inside of the display window, in a downward fashion. Some of the air is then recirculated back through the system to the air propulsion fan and back through the display case again.